


Skin Walker

by Alley_Walk (AlleyWalk_writes)



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Ace!Kanda, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, An eye for an eye, Blindness, Demisexual Allen Walker, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Ghosts, M/M, Magical Realism, Nonbinary Alma Karma, Platonic Romance, Rated M for Violence and Dark Themes, Supernatural Elements, Texting, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-01-29 23:52:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21418762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyWalk_writes/pseuds/Alley_Walk
Summary: Allen has been very busy. He has, in fact:1. discovered a skinwalker plot against his friends.2. been living with a snarky ghost and a cloak with anger issues in a shack in the woods.3. been on the run from the law forbeinga skinwalker.4. realized that all of these facts do not make him particularly trustworthy.Oh, well. If worse comes to worse he can always kidnap them.
Relationships: Allen Walker & Crown Clown | White Devil & Nea D. Campbell, Kanda Yuu & Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu & Alma Karma & Lavi & Lenalee Lee & Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker, Komui Lee/Bak Chan, Lenalee Lee/Lou Fa, Miranda Lotto/Noise Marie, Past Lavi/Lenalee Lee
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	1. the dinner party from hell

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> Here's a new fic idea of mine that I hope you'll all like!
> 
> It'll operate a lot like Dark Horses does, with one scene per chapter, just so I can get them out faster and keep my momentum going. I've got about four scenes finished counting this one, so I've got a bit of a buffer. ^^
> 
> No trigger warnings for this first chapter, and please enjoy. :)

_ *Kanda You* changed chathandle to *Kanda Yuu* _

_ Kanda Yuu: rabbit, quit changing my chathandle before I change yours for you _

_ Lavily: jeez, always with the violence  _

_ Mayonnaise lover12: yuu, calm down _

_ Lenalady: is this really necessary? _

_ Pierrot: violence is always necessary. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ _

Kanda snorts, smirking. Alma shoots him a smile across the low table from where they’re sitting next to Lenalee and Lavi on the couch. Kanda, sitting across from them in the armchair, rolls his eyes. The wonders of technology, where you could sit across from your friends while texting them. Ever since the sorcerers and non-magicals had started combining magic and technology, it wasn’t so much phones as the next plugin to insert into your system. Right now they are literally having a conversation on the backs of their eyelids. And while texting while they’re all in the same room is pretty stupid, for once their online friend is actually fucking online today. 

You’d think he lives in a fucking shack in the woods, with how bad his reception is.

_ Kanda Yuu: (☞ ಠ_ಠ)☞ _

_ Lavily: lol this is why we like you al, you’ve got such a great sense of humor _

_ Pierrot: thanks ^^ _

_ Pierrot: so what are you guys up to today? _

_ Lavily: kanda and alma just got off work, I did a BUNCH of filing today, and it SUCKED, and lenalee got to stay home because the weather behaved itself. _

_ Kanda Yuu: it was fucking  _ ** _deskwork._ **

_ Pierrot: aw, poor Kanda. did he have to do a little deskwork? _

Kanda smirks.

_ Kanda Yuu: how tragic. _

_ Pierrot: ^^ _

Kanda smiles, a bit fondly. He spots Alma open their eyes and look at him only to close them again.

_ Mayonnaise lover12:  _ _ kandainlove.mm _

_ Lenalady: aww _

_ Pierrot: aw, kanda… ( ◜‿◝ )♡ _

_ Pierrot:  _ _ alleninlove.mm _

Kanda opens the link to find Allen looking at him with his head lying on the ground, his hair spread out in a nimbus of white. He smiles softly at him, and Kanda can’t help but smile back. He can see a clear view of Allen’s eyes through his cateye wireframe glasses, eyes that would be a light blue speckled with gold and navy blue but for the pink and mottled scar that strikes like a knife down the left side of his face, leaving his left eye fogged over and blind.

The eyes are so  _ familiar. _

And that’s because Kanda has seen them many, many times before.

He says none of this, however, simply going back to the conversation at hand, until the doorbell rings.

_ Lenalady: lavi, go get the doorbell. _

_ Lavily: why does it have to be me? _

_ Kanda Yuu: it’s your house, idiot _

_ Pierrot: wait. are you guys all texting me from the same. room? ರ_ರ _

_ Kanda Yuu: of course, idiot, how else would we text you? _

He says it but he says it fondly.

_ Pierrot: ಠ ೧ ಠ _

“Hey guys, look who’s here!” Lavi exclaims as he gallops into the living room like an over excited horse. Marie and Miranda walk in a few moments later, hand in hand, with Krory trailing behind nervously. Kanda’s eyes immediately land on the shock collar around his throat, stiff and uncomfortable, and Kanda’s blood boils. Krory meets Kanda’s eyes and shakes his head, his pink eyes resigned.

For a second something niggles at the back of Kanda’s mind, something decidedly  _ off _ about Krory. But then he shakes it away and sends a quick goodbye text to Allen before signing off. Lenalee smiles at the three of them. “Hey everyone! Are you about ready for dinner?” She asks.

Marie smiles at her. “Just about.”

The microwave timer beeps, and Alma goes to take the fish fillets out of the oven. They set the table, and Miranda sets a Meijer cake down on the counter with a secretive smile towards Marie and Krory. They talk of little things throughout most of the meal, Lavi choking on his food like an idiot while laughing at something Alma said, Lenalee throwing a green bean across the table at Krory for besmirching her brother’s honor.

At the end of dinner though, the cake is set in front of them. 

Lavi frowns, rubbing at his chin with his thumb. “So is this cake just for cake’s sake, or what?”

Miranda stutters, bringing her hand halfway up to her face before dropping it in an effort of bravery. “W-we h-have something t-to t-tell y-you,” she says nervously. She turns to Marie and asks, without one stutter, “don’t we, Marie?”

Marie nods with a smile, Krory looking bright and hopeful.

“We’re getting married,” Krory says with a lovestruck sigh.

Kanda’s eyebrows rise, and Lavi squawks, “What, all three of you?! But I thought you were with Eliade!”

Krory blinks, some of the hearts leaving his eyes. “Oh, yes, I am. But all four of us are getting married together, because Eliade and Marie are also…”

He looks to Miranda for help.

“...Together?” Miranda adds helplessly. 

There’s silence as everyone in the room absorbs the information. Kanda smirks at Marie and lifts an eyebrow, and Marie smiles sheepishly. His newly healed eyes are dark brown, and for once Kanda isn’t caught by the strangeness of Marie looking at him and actually  _ seeing _ him. Lenalee grins, leaning forward eagerly. “That’s great! We’re really happy for you. When’s the wedding?”

Lavi frowns. “Where’s Eliade? Wouldn’t she want to tell us the news?”

Krory laughs. “She’s so busy planning the wedding that I can hardly get her to leave the house.”

They talk and laugh for a while more, until Krory, Miranda and Marie part with them, walking out the front door and into the cold November air.

“Well that was nice,” Miranda comments.

Marie and Krory meet each other’s eyes, a secret passing between them. “Yes, it was.” Marie agrees.

They part at the bus stop, their homes in two different directions. Krory stares out the window dispassionately and gets off without a word to anyone. He unlocks his front door and enters his home, an immediate expression of distaste crossing his features as soon as the door closes. Then he smirks, and reaches for his hair. The hair pulls backward off of his skull, and then like the parting of a curtain, Eliade Dubois steps out of his skin with a triumphant smirk on her face.

“Oh Arystar, you really have outdone yourself.”


	2. the truth isn't always kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen gets a metaphorical bomb dropped in his lap and promptly freaks the fuck out before starting on Damage Control™.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why did I post this chapter the same day I posted the fic?
> 
> _because I felt like it-_
> 
> I mean.
> 
> I'm just so pumped for this fic, y'all.
> 
> This idea has been bouncing around my brain for weeks and I can't wait to share it with y'all. ^^
> 
> Trigger warnings for implied vomiting, panic attacks and dissociating.

Allen Walker frowns as he looks up at his phone, lying on his old weather beaten couch with some ratty old blankets around his legs, one of the couch springs digging into his back. The thing about Allen’s house is that it’s a bit bigger than a shack but smaller than a house. It also tends to be very cold during the winters and very warm during the summers, and he doesn’t even have air conditioning, just one crappy heater that has to be banged upon just right in order to get it working. His house also does happen to be in the woods.

It has horrible reception.

Allen hears the sound of laughter, making him look up. A white cloak flies across the room while it chases after a man with deep brown skin much like Allen’s own and dark fluffy hair that spikes artfully backwards, his form glowing with an ethereal light as he flickers just out of the cloak’s reach and reappears a few feet behind it, making it whirl around, bristling like an offended cat.

Both the cloak and the man are residents of Allen’s home. The cloak perhaps had even more of a claim to the shack than Allen did. It had been here when Allen had first taken shelter there one cold, rainy day. He had found a chest that had been sealed with many warning labels such as DANGER and DO NOT OPEN UPON PAIN OF DEATH. Allen, ever to ignore such things, had opened the chest.

The cloak attempting to strangle him as soon as Allen had released it was maybe a sign that this wasn’t wholly unwarranted, but then Allen probably would have done the same thing if he had been trapped in a chest for who knows how many years. The cloak was summarily dubbed White Devil for its uncontrollable anger issues and its uncontestable whiteness.

The other resident of the Shack is significantly stranger than the others, because he is in fact, dead. Or rather, something dead that used to be alive. Their resident ghost’s name is Nea D. Campbell, and the most important thing about him is that he does not require food by any physical means. (At least, in Allen’s opinion). Allen is perfectly fine with Nea feeding off of his energy so long as  _ he _ gets to eat. And of course White Devil is an inanimate object, so it doesn’t need food.

_ Pierrot: brb _

_ Kanda Yuu: alright _

Allen smiles at this, though he knows Kanda can’t see it. With a grin he sets his phone aside, running his hands along each of the furs tied around his waist with a practiced ease until he finds the one he wants. It’s a skin he uses often because he got it solely for camouflage purposes. Most of the skinwalkers Allen’s met only use animals that are useful in a fight, ones that live exclusively in certain places and would never blend in at a suburban area. But then, most skinwalkers have ways to get around that. 

Pulling the skin over his body, there’s a brief moment of vertigo before something slots into place and Allen lands on all four feet like the housecat he’s just become. Cat yawns and gives a languorous stretch before sitting down with his tail curled over his paws. He gives the fur on his shoulder a lick before his ears prick, picking up the frustrated sounds of rustling cloth from Flying Nest and the joy sounds ringing through the air from Dead Friend. Oh, right. He was doing something Before. Ears perking with interest, Cat bounds over and bats at the flowing wisps of cloth with his paws. Flying Nest turns and shoots him an affronted look, and Cat blinks up at it innocently. As one they turn and leap on top of Dead Friend, who yelps with surprise with sounds of joy caught in the back of his throat. Dead Friend flickers away and reappears a second later a few feet away, smiling teasingly. 

Cat becomes Allen again fifteen minutes later, White Devil draping itself across Allen’s shoulders, fluffing up the hood playfully. Allen sits back down on the couch and scoops up his phone off of the couch cushion, beginning to type again. 

_ Pierrot: i’m back _

_ Kanda Yuu: what took you so long? _

Allen cocks his head, but eventually decides upon the truth.

_ Pierrot: i was helping white devil ambush nea _

Allen can almost hear Kanda’s disbelieving huff before he replies.

_ Kanda Yuu: i’m still not sure i buy the fucking ghost and sentient cloak thing _

_ Pierrot: i sent you a picture of nea! _

_ Kanda Yuu: allen, there was nothing there. _

_ Pierrot: that just proves that he was there. ghosts don’t show up in pictures, remember? _

_ Kanda Yuu: …  _

_ Kanda Yuu: ┻━┻ミ＼(≧ﾛ≦＼) _

_ Pierrot: ｡◕‿◕｡ _

_ Kanda Yuu: *sigh* fuck it, it doesn’t matter. there was something i wanted to ask you, anyway. _

_ Pierrot: ? _

_ Kanda Yuu: you remember marie and miranda, right? _

_ Pierrot: yes, of course. how are they? _

_ Kanda Yuu: considering they’re about to be happily married to Krory and Eliade, they can’t fucking complain.  _

Allen’s heart drops like a stone. He sits rigidly in his seat, White Devil wrapping itself around his form comfortingly, as if sensing his emotions. But all Allen can think about is that name. Eliade, Eliade, Eliade… each word is like the strike of a snake, the pain carving into him a thousand times over and seeping into his veins like a cold poison. 

Eliade is not a common name.

And every skinwalker in the world knows to fear Eliade’s name. 

But maybe he’s wrong. Maybe Eliade isn’t such as odd a name as he thinks it is.

He hesitates for a moment, then types.

_ Pierrot: Eliade and Krory…? _

_ Kanda Yuu: Arystar Krory III and Eliade Dubois _

.

.

.

Allen blinks, feeling dazed to find his head leaning against the side of the toilet, the surface cool on his temple and the taste of vomit on his tongue. He blinks again with his thoughts moving like sludge, standing on shaky feet and flushing the toilet, he turns and walks out of the bathroom. His body feels heavy and disconnected from himself, his movements not entirely his own as he enters the kitchen and opens the fridge. He reaches in and pulls out a jug of orange juice, the bright label splashed across it making Allen want to scowl, though no expression crosses his face. Uncapping it with clumsy fingers, he brings it to his lips and drinks so fast he’s nearly choking, but when he stops he feels marginally more human. 

“Hey. You okay over there?” 

Allen meets Nea’s concerned gaze, White Devil floating up to him with its cloth crossed and a stubborn tilt to its masked face.

“Better,” Allen replies hoarsely.

Nea gives him a skeptical look and drifts over, wrapping an arm around Allen’s shoulders and making Allen shiver. White Devil nestles its collar around Allen’s shoulders while keeping the mask and feathery hood in order to better express itself. They both lead him over to the dilapidated couch where Nea rather impolitely takes the seat with the most amount of cushioning and so the least amount of couch springs. Allen sits down next to him with great reluctance.

“So you okay? Do I need to go out and teach that Candy jerk a lesson?” Nea prompts, and White Devil nods seriously.

Allen sighs. “It’s Kanda. And it’s got nothing to do with him.” Allen sleeks his hands through his furs, calming himself.

Nea seems to realize this is more serious, because his eyes sharpen. “What is it about, then?”

Allen closes his eyes before they quickly snap open again, the eyes of the dead burned into the back of his eyelids. “Eliade.”

Nea’s eyebrows raise. “The Mimic lady? You’re not dumb enough to go after her, are you?”

When Allen stays silent, Nea grimaces and rubs at his nose. “Of course. Of course you are.”

“I don’t really have a choice.”

“Oh yeah, and why’s that?” Nea asks sarcastically.

Allen traces a finger down the rough length of his scar, the action made odd in the fact that he could feel his finger but not see it as it runs up and down his face. “I believe there may be some plot that the Mimic is in that directly involves my friends.”

Nea blinks. “Well, shit. What makes you say that?”

“She’s getting married to my boyfriend’s brother.”

Nea looks away, rubbing at his eyes. He sighs. “Well, shit. Sign me up, I guess.”

White Devil nods its head determinedly, punching a cloth-like hand into a fist. 

Allen sighs and then nods. “We’ll have to do some digging, but- shit, Kanda!”

Scrambling around the house looking for his phone, he finally finds it discarded on the bathroom floor. Scooping it up in his hands he quickly reads the messages Kanda sent him. 

_ Kanda Yuu: i was wondering if you  _

_ Kanda Yuu: fuck _

_ Kanda Yuu: will you go to the wedding with me? _

_ Kanda Yuu: allen? _

_ *Pierrot* is idle!  _

_ Kanda Yuu: fuck _

_ Kanda Yuu: allen it’s okay _

_ Kanda Yuu: you don’t have to go with me if you don’t want to _

_ Kanda Yuu: alright? _

Allen, realizing the opportunity being dropped into his lap, begins to type.

_ Pierrot: no, kanda, it’s fine _

_ Pierrot: i just sort of, got a bit nervous? _

_ Pierrot: i haven’t exactly met everyone in person yet, and i’m not very good with crowds _

_ Pierrot: but i’d love to go with you _

_ Kanda Yuu: by nervous, do you mean full-blown freak out? _

_ Pierrot: no, of course not. _

_ Kanda Yuu: …right. _

_ Kanda Yuu: what do you think about vampires? _

Raising an eyebrow at the non sequitur, Allen answers.

_ Pierrot: bad for them, mostly, considering all of the rules and regulations hanging over their heads. _

_ Pierrot: why are you asking? _

_ Kanda Yuu: ┐( ˘_˘)┌ _

_ Pierrot: if you say so _

They say their goodbyes, and then Allen turns to his two soon-to-be accomplices.

He smiles sharply. “Time to do some digging.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I freakin' love Crown Clown/White Devil and Nea, just gonna say that now. Also, White Devil got named something different because of how they met and because of its rather explosive personality. Not a lot of people have given Crown Clown a personality before, so I thought it'd be fun if it was as angry and eccentric as Allen. ^^
> 
> The name also originates from the manga. I'm not sure if I'm remembering right, but I remember during Allen's fight with Tyki in the Ark, Tyki called his cloak akin to a "White Devil", which, not sure what that means, but I'm running with it. XD
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Kudos?
> 
> Got anything to say?
> 
> Please go ahead and leave it right here. ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen does some digging. 
> 
> Kanda has a familiar visitor come calling with shocking results. 
> 
> And White Devil is White Devil, as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! SO sorry about the lack of updates! I saw y'all's comments and decided to get my butt into gear and get this chapter out to y'all. I can't promise that updates won't be sporadic in the future, but I'll try my best to get the content out there!
> 
> Also, I changed the set up for the texting. I hope it's not too jarring, I'll probably go back and fix the rest at some point, as well as correct any OoC inaccuracies that I catch. ^^"

Wolf stalks his prey on silent paws, the forest alive with birdsong and the smells of grass and morning dew, the biting wind carding cold fingers through his fur. Lingering beside him is a cold presence that is undetectable by anything except that slow, creeping feeling that makes the hairs raise along his spine, the comfort of Flying Nest having disappeared along with it.

Usually Dead friend is not scary.

But on a hunt he can be very, very scary.

They finally ambush the threat-enemy, Wolf pouncing on him and pinning him down with a snarl. Wolf falls back as Dead Friend bends nature to his will, dirt and plants and tree roots surging forward to encase threat-enemy, pulling him down into the earth up to his neck where he can harm no one. 

A connection breaks in Wolf's mind and Allen stands on two feet once more, pushing his wolf skin off of his head and down around his waist as he surveys the man they had captured. He was one of Eliade’s associates, close enough to her that it’s probable he knows something but distant enough that he won’t be missed. For a while, anyway.

The man is looking at him coldly, evaluating him, but Allen can see the fear in his eyes. Allen flicks his wrist and a knife materializes in his hand, cold and deadly. Nea flickers into view beside him, White Devil wrapped around his shoulders.

He grins, a bit ferally. “Do you want to do this, or should I?”

Needless to say, a few minutes of quality time with Nea had the man squealing like a pig. Slitting the man’s throat after that had practically been a mercy, and Nea had easily gotten rid of the body by burying it six feet under. Literally. 

Allen tilts his head as he goes over what they’ve learned. 

  1. There’s a skinwalker plot _of some sort_ that involves taking the places of important or overlooked people and slowly invading human society.

  1. This involves a lot more than just one skinwalker.

How is he supposed to get anyone to trust him when he’s a skinwalker himself? For all they know he could be in on it.

…Does he really need them to trust him? It might be better if he never tells them at all. They would be safer, out of Eliade’s reach. He could go it alone. Well… not completely alone. Allen looks over at Nea and White Devil, and nods to himself.

And he knows just what he’s going to do next. 

* * *

Kanda looks up from his dinner of soba and white rice when he hears the sound of the cat flap opening and closing. The cat flap had been installed into the front door of his house for a number of reasons, most of them being that he kept getting a demanding fucking visitor that would scratch and yowl at the door if it wasn’t opened as soon as he pleased. This visitor was a brown and white snowshoe tomcat with familiar light blue eyes with specks of gold and navy blue, his left eye blinded by a scratch down the left side of his face.

Kanda listens as the cat stops by the bowl of water Kanda always leaves out for him, the familiar sound of a small tongue lapping against the surface of the water making Kanda smile softly. He knew exactly who this was, of course. Allen and Kanda had started to meet up about half a year after they started dating, the first one a week or so after Allen had hit his seventeenth birthday less than seven months after Kanda had hit his. Allen had demanded that they meet at a remote location, and after meeting Allen in person a few times, Kanda could understand why. He hid it well, but Allen had a certain wildness about him. There was a bleak severity to his lifestyle and overall outlook to the world that spoke of survival in hard, unforgiving conditions, a hunger and a fury simmering inside him, hidden behind his mask of deception and lies. 

He had gotten the feeling that Allen was a lot more open with him than he was with other people, however, which was cemented a couple of years later when instead of Allen coming to the meet up point with a backpack that made him ridiculously defensive, he came wearing a fuckton of animal skins around his waist. He didn’t let Kanda near them until a year later, but by then he had already been starting to get visits from the one-eyed cat demon from hell which staunchly refused any attempts for Kanda to shoo it off and was so dubbed Snowshoe for its breed and a pun on its inimitable stubbornness for not fucking off back to where it came from. 

Once this was established, he tried feeding him kibble.

And he just ate his dinner while he wasn’t fucking looking.

This ended in a compromise; Kanda would have a couple cans of tuna ready for Snowshoe if and when he inevitably showed up, just to save himself the trouble of a cat eating his dinner.

Kanda’s not an idiot. Despite his troubles in school and his highschool GED, he’s taken classes in both criminology and psychology, so of course he had connected the dots. He never said anything. What was there to say, really? He knew, and Allen knew that he knew, and they were both a lot happier if none of these things were spoken aloud.

“Mrrw,” Snowshoe meows from the kitchen, which is his noise that means Kanda.

Kanda sighs, getting up off of the couch and sweeping up his soba and rice in one arm, which will probably be cold by the time he’s done dealing with Snowshoe’s appetite. 

Thank God for magic microwaves.

Kanda walks into the kitchen and looks down to meet Allen’s—Snowshoe’s clear blue eyes, the tomcat looking up at him with a wide eyed innocent expression, his dark brown tail standing straight in the air. Kanda snorts. “Come on, then.” His dark brown ears pricked, Snowshoe grabs onto his pantleg with his claws prickling into Kanda’s skin, climbing Kanda as easily as he might a tree as he vaults onto Kanda’s shoulders. He balances there for a moment before his warm weight settles on either side of his shoulders, tail curling around Kanda’s neck while he looks down at Kanda’s food with keen interest. 

Kanda snorts and scratches him behind the ears, Allen’s eyes closing as he leans into the touch. He walks over to the pantry and opens up a can of tuna, making Snowshoe perk up predictably. He scoops out the tuna on a plate and then, because his food has gone cold by now, heats up his dinner until it’s not completely inedible.* He places the tuna and his own food on the kitchen table and allows Snowshoe to climb down to get to his. They ate in companionable silence, and Kanda ends the night with a cat curled up beside him as he falls asleep.

And when he wakes up, lying in Snowshoe’s place, is Allen.

* * *

Allen yawns hugely while stretching his arms up above his head, his eyes closed as he tries to shake off his drowsiness. He had been with Kanda, as Cat. He remembers Cat getting a sudden urge to tell Kanda everything and becoming Allen. Allen had gotten the much more pressing urge to relieve his bladder and by then a much stronger instinct to protect Kanda from the truth, and had subsequently curled up and went back to sleep.

As Allen, he realizes. 

He freezes in place as he blinks and meets Kanda’s eyes as cold, icy fingers reach up into his chest, grip his heart and  _ squeeze. _ He should run while he still can. He should shift into a bird and fly as fast as he can out the window. He needs to go back in time to before he thought visiting as Cat was a good idea before coming to Kanda as Allen. He wants to- 

There is a warm, familiar hand on top of Allen’s own, its slender fingers tapping a rhythm against the back of his hand. Allen begins to breathe again, his breathing patterns following the rhythm. He hadn’t quite realized he’d stopped.

When he finds he can focus again, his eyes catch on the half-moon pendant encircling Kanda’s neck, the pendant silver and made of metal, strung on thick black string. Allen’s eyes skitter up to look at Kanda’s face before glancing down again, not really seeing his expression but knowing what’s there. He slowly pulls his hand out of Kanda’s grip, swallowing down the lump in his throat. “Wait,” Kanda says, “don’t go.”

Allen looks at him, swallowing against something that feels oddly like hope. “Yes?”

Kanda sits up in bed and reaches over and pulls Allen up with him, bringing him closer so that they were face to face. “You idiot,” he says, angry yet fond. “I don’t care if you’re a skinwalker or the Lord of cheese, nothing’s going to change the way I feel about you.” 

Allen relaxes, and his muscles uncoil slightly. Kanda sets him down and starts running his fingers through his hair, and Allen sighs as he leans against him. This is the point where Allen’s stomach decides to protest at its lack of calorific consumption, growling loudly into the silence of the bedroom.

And then the curtains start to giggle.

Or rather shake violently  _ as if _ they were giggling.

Kanda is reaching for his gun but Allen shakes his head, stopping him. He sighs. “Devil,” he greets.

A large patch of white gradually appears on Kanda’s curtains, and then White Devil turns and peels itself off from its fellow fabric and floats two feet off of the ground with a mischievous tilt to its masked face. Kanda’s bare feet hit the floor with a solid thump as he stands between White Devil and Allen with a suspicious glower on his face. “So this is your possessed quilt?” Kanda asks, and it’s obvious he’s talking to Allen even though he’s facing the cloak. 

White Devil flares up in offense, bristling like an affronted cat. “Its name is White Devil,” Allen interjects, “and it’s not possessed. It’s an old and powerful relic that gained sentience overtime.” White Devil puffs up proudly at this. “And an ego,” Allen adds, and White Devil bristles, shooting Allen a glare.

Kanda lifts an eyebrow, clearly surprised. “Well that’s rare. Do you know how it became sentient?” 

White Devil hunches itself defensively, and Allen climbs out of bed to stand between it and Kanda’s words, the cloak drifting closer to brush against Allen. Allen crosses his arms and looks at Kanda stubbornly. “Why are you asking?”

Kanda shrugs. “There have been some cases of old magical items coming to life, but it’s so rare that we’re still trying to put together how it all works.”

Allen shrugs as well. “Well I’m afraid I don’t know.” White Devil wraps itself snug around his form, clinging tightly as it buries its hooded face into the back of Allen’s neck, its folds shaking slightly. Allen strokes it comfortingly from its place on his shoulders, and it stops shaking even as it drapes its feathered hood over Allen’s head, obscuring half of his face as the black and gold half mask clicks into place. It does this sometimes, seeking all the comfort it can through the absorption of Allen’s body heat rather than the remembrance of the cold, damp trunk that it had been locked inside of for decades, maybe even centuries.

Kanda raises an eyebrow at them both, and Allen stares back at him, defiant. Their staring match is broken by Allen’s stomach rumbling, the sound like the roar of a rusty chainsaw. Allen winces. Well, it’s better than the sound of an enraged bear being assaulted by infuriated bees. That’s the sound his stomach usually makes when it is  _ truly _ displeased. 

Kanda smirks at him and Allen scowls back.

“Hungry?” Kanda teases with a slight smirk on his face.

“Starving,” Allen says with a grin.

They make their way towards the kitchen that Allen remembers the way to courtesy of Cat, exiting the bedroom and passing the bathroom down the short carpeted hallway that leads to both the kitchen and living room, each with warmly painted walls with warm brown furniture and dark wooden cabinets and floors, the floor in the living room carpeted. There are no decorations spare for a sword displayed on the wall and bookcases lining one wall, and Allen’s eyes pass over it as he leans against the island countertop. In the divide between both rooms is a winding metal staircase that goes both up and down; up leads to the guest bedrooms and bathrooms while down leads to Kanda’s workout room.

“No tuna this time?” Kanda asks, amused as Allen riffles through the cereal.

Allen sticks his tongue out at him, deciding that this is a perfectly respectable response.

Kanda just snorts.

They’re sitting beside each other on the couch with Kanda still on his first cereal bowl and Allen on his fifth when Kanda asks, “so why now?”

Allen, who has been discreetly adding copious amounts of splenda to Kanda’s bland-as-fuck cereal and hoping for a miracle, blessing the gods of food that he had been too hungry to stop and taste it for the first five bowls, blinks at the question. “What do you mean?” 

Kanda huffs. “Why tell me now?”

Allen rubs the back of his neck, White Devil removing itself from his face and head to accommodate him. “Honestly, it was kind of an accident.” His eyebrows furrowed. “But you already knew, didn’t you?”

Kanda nods. “I did.” He huffs. “Trust you to come out to your boyfriend as a skinwalker by accident.”

Allen smiles sheepishly. 

Allen’s phone chimes in his pocket just as Kanda startles, his Moira glowing a bright blue from its place dangling from his ear like a glorified earring. Stupid magical technology. Completely ignoring the fact that his phone runs on magical energy and does not in fact, need to be charged, Allen scowls at Kanda’s ridiculously pretentious magical earring as he sets down his bowl on the coffee table and takes his phone out of his pocket to look at the group chat. 

_ * _ ** _Lavily_ ** _ * changed chathandle *Kanda Yuu* to * _ ** _yuuuu-chan~!_ ** _ * _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : hey u guys what’s shakin’?? _

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : lavi, do you even know what time it is? _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : lol, nope ;) _

** _yuuuu-chan~!_ ** _ : just how high are you right now? _

** _yuuuu-chan~!_ ** _ : … _

** _yuuuu-chan~!_ ** _ : che _

_ * _ ** _yuuuu-chan~!_ ** _ * changed chathandle to * _ ** _Kanda_Fuck_You_ ** _ * _

_ _ ** _Lavily_ ** _ : i’m not h i g h _

** _Pierrot_ ** _ : lavi, you’re as high as a kite _

** _Mayonnaise lover12_ ** _ : i’m going to have to agree with allen on this one _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : no, i’m really not _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : unless you count a coffee high _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : i was up all night at the archives sorting through some old tomes that just came in _

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : i know what you mean _

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : the weather division had over half of the elementals in the city up most of the night diverting a snowstorm so it wouldn’t impede construction work on Milham Street. _

** _Pierrot_ ** _ : snow during the fall? how surprising.  _

As sarcasm goes, it’s a bit of an understatement. He lives in the UP, or the upper peninsula as it stands for, where it’s significantly colder and the weather patterns are just as unpredictable. But it has 40% more forestry than civilization over the whole peninsula, the whole of which is teaming with grey wolves as well as elk and plenty of other animals, so overall Allen is content.

Kanda looks at him with a raised eyebrow and no small amount of amusement, his irises glowing with an icy blue light from his use of his Moira. Of course Kanda would suspect where Allen lived, as Allen has met him in the UP numerous times before in the towns nearby, though he hadn’t done that at first of course. Never give away your location to a potential enemy. It unnerves him that Kanda is no longer in that category.

It’s a dangerous line of thinking.

Allen smiles mischievously at him. Glancing over at Kanda, Allen musters his bravery and scoots over closer to Kanda on the couch, hesitantly reaching for his hand. Kanda looks into his eyes and interlaces his fingers with his, making a warm feeling bloom in Allen’s chest. Allen’s eyes burn and he swallows down the lump in his throat as he leans his head against Kanda’s shoulder, an easy feat considering Allen’s forehead barely comes up to Kanda’s chin.

** _Lavily_ ** _ : that’s michigan for you _

** _Mayonnaise lover12_ ** _ : at least me and kanda got off easy _

** _Mayonnaise lover12_ ** _ : we got hit by some anima blockers yesterday so our magic won’t be working for a few days _

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : wow, i’m sorry guys _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : yeah, that sucks _

“Allen.” Kanda says evenly, and Allen realizes abruptly that he’s gripping Kanda’s hand so hard that he can feel the very bones inside his hand. He takes a deep breath and let’s go with his fists clenching and unclenching until he gets control over himself, his hands relaxing and his tightened jaw loosening as he schools his face into something apologetic, even as it feels brittle and flimsy on his face. 

“I’m sorry, Kanda.” He apologizes, though his voice sounds oddly far away. 

Kanda’s jaw tightens and he sighs, reaching over to brush his fingers through Allen’s hair. It distracts him from the phantom sensation of pain boring into his left eye, thick, hot blood sliding down his face as the terror and the hate and the fury raged inside him. He takes a deep breath and leans into Kanda’s touch, watching the conversation go on without him.

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : so what are you up to, allen? _

** _Mayonnaise lover12_ ** _ : you haven’t responded in a while. are you okay? _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : al? buddy? _

** _Kanda_Fuck_You_ ** _ : don’t worry, he’s with me. _

** _Kanda_Fuck_You_ ** _ : i invited him to the wedding _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : ohhh, i see~ ;) _

** _Kanda_Fuck_You_ ** _ : ಠಗಠ _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : ;))))))))))) _

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : then we should have lunch together so allen can meet everyone properly! _

This finally breaks Allen out of his daze as he recalls that he didn’t exactly bring much with him and that his clothing choices at the Shack had been rather sparse to begin with. Allen clears his throat. “Um, Kanda?”

Kanda opens his eyes and looks at him. “Yeah?”

“Could we go shopping first? I need some changes of clothes.”

Kanda frowns and then nods. “Sure.”

** _Kanda_Fuck_You_ ** _ : we’re going to be doing some shopping first _

** _Kanda_Fuck_You_ ** _ : probably at johnny’s  _

Allen tilts his head. “‘Johnny’s’?”

“Clothing store,” Kanda answers. “They’re not completely incompetent.”

Which from Kanda is practically a glowing endorsement.

Allen nods with a smile. “Alright.”

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : sounds like fun _

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : we could meet up there at around 3 o’clock for a late lunch at jerry’s diner _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : ooh that sounds great _

** _Lavily_ ** _ : gives me time to sleep in a little _

** _Lenalady_ ** _ : me too, to be honest _

** _Mayonnaise lover12_ ** _ : i could meet you guys there, if you like _

** _Mayonnaise lover12_ ** _ : what time are you planning on being there? _

Alma wants to go shopping with them? Excitement and nerves buzz in Allen’s gut like a hive of agitated bees, and Allen squirms in his seat a bit, shooting a glare at Kanda’s amused look.

** _Pierrot_ ** _ : we don’t have a set time yet but when we do we’ll text you _

They say their goodbyes, and Allen and Kanda take their bowls into the kitchen and put them into the dishwasher. Allen is all for going out to get clothes right away, but Kanda insists on a shower, brushing their teeth and a change of clothes. 

Just a bit longer, and then he can meet his friends.

And then he can protect his friends.

By any means necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I know now from a bit of google fu that soba is meant to be eaten cold, so please forgive past me's ignorance, because i really don't feel like fixing it at the moment...
> 
> (This chap was actually already typed up, but since I usually like to have another chapter waiting in the wings before I post, I didn't post it. I've got A LOT of catching up to do. ^^")
> 
> Anyways, see y'all next chap!

**Author's Note:**

> Oh Eliade, you rascal.
> 
> And yes, Alma really does love mayonnaise _that much._
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Kudos?
> 
> Screaming at me to get the next chapter out?
> 
> All of those are welcome. ^^


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